A builder has been fined $10,000 for arranging building work without having the proper insurance in place.

Victorian Building Authority (VBA) CEO Sue Eddy says the regulator takes its role to maintain the integrity of the building industry extremely seriously and will use powers available to it to protect consumers.

The builder pleaded guilty to managing work under a major domestic building contract without insurance, in breach of Section 136(2) of the Building Act 1993, and was fined $10,000 in the Ringwood Magistrates Court.

The man, who was not named by the VBA, entered into a major domestic building contract with homeowners in 2015 after their house was destroyed by fire.

The contract included the purchase and relocation of a dwelling from regional NSW to a property in northern Victoria, but the work carried out was defective and left the dwelling uninhabitable.

“Although the man did not carry out the defective building work himself, it was due to the fact that he was the builder who managed and arranged the carrying out of the building work by subcontracting the builder, that the obligation to take out insurance rested with him,” the VBA said.

Separately, the VBA brought Victorian Supreme Court proceedings against building surveyor and inspector Simon Mattiske, alleging he had worked illegally while his registrations were suspended.

The court issued an injunction preventing him from working as a building surveyor or building inspector until July 2023.